Audio to VTT: Create a WebVTT File from Audio

To create a VTT file from audio, send the recording to the Potok bot on Telegram and export the transcript as VTT. WebVTT (.vtt) is the subtitle format for HTML5 video. A WebVTT file starts with the line WEBVTT, and its times use a period before the milliseconds. Files up to 2 GB are accepted.

Transcribe a recording

Send your voice message, audio or video to @potok_now_bot on Telegram and the text comes back in the chat.

Open @potok_now_bot in Telegram

Files up to 2 GB · export to TXT, MD, DOCX, PDF, SRT and VTT · speaker labels and timestamps · about 30 languages

Key facts

WebVTT is built for the web, so a video element on a page can load a VTT file as a text track.
The first line of the file must be the word WEBVTT, and a missing header makes browsers ignore the track.
In a time such as 00:00:01.000 the milliseconds follow a period, while SRT uses a comma.
The format is a W3C specification, which is why browsers handle it in the same way.

How to do it

Send the audio. Open @potok_now_bot in Telegram and attach the recording.
Wait for the transcript. A short one arrives in the chat. A long one comes as a file.
Export VTT. Choose VTT in the export options and save the file with the .vtt extension.
Check the first line. Open the file in a text editor and confirm that the first line reads WEBVTT.
Add it to the page. Attach the file to the video element as a text track and serve it from the same site as the page.

What the result looks like

Example: first cues of a WebVTT file for a product demo

[00:00] Speaker 1: This is a quick tour of the dashboard.
[00:04] Speaker 1: On the left you see the list of projects.
[00:09] Speaker 1: Click one to open its details.

Sample text written by us to show the layout of a transcript. It is not the output of the recognition engine and not a real recording.

What Potok can do
Feature	Details
Where it works	Telegram bot @potok_now_bot; large files go through the bot's mini app
File size	Up to 2 GB
Export	TXT, MD, DOCX, PDF, SRT, VTT
Speakers and time	Speaker labels and timestamps can be switched on
Languages	About 30 languages with good published results; a few more with warnings
Translation	The transcript is not translated into another language
Dictation	A separate Potok desktop app lets you dictate text into any program; it recognises Russian speech

Common mistakes

Common mistakes and how to fix them
Mistake	What happens	Fix
Deleting the WEBVTT line while tidying the file	Without the header the browser does not accept the file as WebVTT.	Leave the first line untouched.
Replacing the periods in the times with commas	That is SRT style, and a strict WebVTT reader rejects it.	Keep the period before the milliseconds.
Loading the track from another domain without permission	Browsers can block a track served from a different origin.	Host the VTT file on the same site as the video page.
Packing cues together with no blank line between them	The parser cannot tell where one cue ends.	Keep one empty line between cues.

See the full list of languages, the tools and the glossary.

Frequently asked questions

What is a VTT file?

WebVTT (.vtt) is the subtitle format for HTML5 video. It holds cues with times and text.

How is VTT different from SRT?

A WebVTT file starts with the line WEBVTT and uses a period before the milliseconds. SRT uses a comma and has no header.

Where can I use a VTT file?

In web pages with a video element and in players that read WebVTT. Many video sites accept it as well.

Can I edit the VTT file by hand?

Yes. It is plain text. Keep the header and the blank lines between cues.

Can I get both VTT and SRT?

Yes. Export the same transcript in each format.

Sources

Each source was opened by hand on the date shown. Pages change, so open the source if a detail matters to you.

WebVTT (Wikipedia), Wikipedia · checked 2026-10-18
WebVTT: The Web Video Text Tracks Format (W3C), W3C · checked 2026-10-18

Try it on your own recording